My freedom is both depressing and exhilarating. A not-uncommon feeling in my situation, I understand.

Not in the least. I choose to look at it as making the burden a bit lighter to carry.

Having Panera.

My freedom is both depressing and exhilarating.

Yup. And it's a weird mixture to feel on a regular basis.

Oh thank goodness. I sent my boss two good candidates to interview, one white, one not white. One of them said a thing to her that was a dealbreaker. Thank goodness it was the white one! (I mean, I am committed to hiring the best person, and am just glad if that person is not white. We are all full up on white people on my team.)

I need to schedule a haircut in the near future and I'm wondering if I could pull off the hair that ScarJo has been rocking lately, except for how I don't have her face or a stylist so maybe not? Decisions!

I need to schedule a haircut in the near future and I'm wondering if I could pull off the hair that ScarJo has been rocking lately, except for how I don't have her face or a stylist so maybe not? Decisions!

::stealthily slips subliminal "ScarJoYes" MP3 into Shrift's favorite playlist...::

Timelies all!

I should not need to wear a sweater in June. Granted, it's over a short-sleeved shirt, but still....

Apparently "homeopathic medicine" has changed definition when I wasn't looking. I was thinking homeopathic meant herbal medicine in general, but given the recent ban in Australia, it seems to be a specific sort of "herbs or whatever waved over water" thing. Is there a school of treatment that uses herbal preparations that's more reputable than what's being currently presented as homeopathic?

Homeopathic means that they're using small amounts of something that mimics the symptoms of your illness in the belief that it will cure you.

I think it's a lot different than taking supplements to aid with a particular issue. Some (not all) of those have data to back them up. I'm pretty sure the alleged benefits of homeopathy have been thoroughly debunked.

I've mostly heard of homeopathic medicine as the pseudoscience wherein "Like cures like"... if you have X symptom, find a plant that causes that symptom, make some kind of concoction with the plant then add water to reduce the concentration of plant bits until you might as well have waved the leaves over the water without them actually touching anything, and that water will cure you - really expensive placebos. Herbal folk medicine, on the other hand has not been fully scientifically tested - some herbs have been shown to have some effect, some have been shown to have no effect, and some have not been studied enough for a verdict to be rendered. And many herbal supplements are not reliable for their strengths of the active phytochemicals which might do some good. So herbal medicine has some problems to it, but is not utter hogwash. We use it when we do things like drink ginger ale or peppermint tea for tummy trouble.

I think that that sometimes "Homeopathic" has been used as an umbrella term for both homeopathy and for herbal medicines. I suspect that much of that confusion stems from whatever studies a Doctor of Homeopathic Medicine undergoes also educates such a person on herbal remedies, and they may use both.